Anchoring means for masonry walls



B. STORCH ANCHORING MEANS FOR MASONRY WALLS April 16, 1968 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 26. 1966 INVENTOR: 56M420 Jraz h April 16,1968 B. S TORCH 3,377,764

ANCHQRING MEANS FOR MASONRY WALLS Filed April 26, 1966 2 Sheets-Shem 2United States Patent 3,377,764 ANCHORING MEANS FOR MASONRY WALLS BernardStorch, 81-57 259th St., Floral Park, N.Y. 11004 Filed Apr. 26, 1966,Ser. No. 545,349 2 Claims. (Cl. 52-713) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREAnchor formed of wire bent to define transverse legs adapted to beembedded in masonry wall, and loop having straight wire run, loopfitting into space between masonry and facing walls. Bracket formed ofwire adapted to be embedded in facing wall, and having straight wire runfor engagement with loop. Straight runs of ancho and bracketsubstantially perpendicular.

This invention relates to building wall construction, and in particularto means for anchoring an outer facing wall to an inner masonry wall.

In the construction of walls of buildings, it is wellknown practice tofirst construct an inner wall made of a masonry material, such asconcrete blocks or poured concrete, to establish the core or shell ofthe building con-- struction, and then to construct a facing wall madeof material such as brick or stone, which is spaced a relatively smalldistance from the masonry wall and stands substantially parallel to theinner masonry wall. The material of the facing wall provides an improvedaesthetic appearance to the building. In this manner a wall constructionis obtained which combines the strength of the concrete masonrystructure, and the pleasing appearance provided by the outer facingwall. In such constructions it is necessary to provide means foranchoring the outer facing wall to the inner masonry wall. In manypresent constructions of the type described, one end of a metal strap isfirst imbedded in the masonry wall, and the free end of the strap isthereafter embedded in a joint of the facing wall. The free end of thestrap is brought to the proper level of the facing wall joint by bendingand manipulating the strap until the end of the strap extends at thelevel of the joint of the facing wall. This known anchoring means hasserious disadvantages in that there is a tendency for the strap tofracture or break during the installation operation due to the stressesformed in the strap as a result of its being flexed. The straps alsotend to fracture or twist out of shape after the construction of thewall, due to uneven settling of the inner and outer walls, causing thefacing wall to be inadequately supported.

It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide a masonryanchor which overcomes the ditliculties referred to above.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a masonryanchor made of a relatively light weight material and of simpleconstruction which nevertheless provides sufficient support to retainthe facing wall to the inner masonry wall.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a masonryanchor in which the elements to be imbedded "ice in the facing wall maybe readily set at the proper level without weakening the structure ofthe anchor itself.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide anadjustable connection between the facing wall and the inner wall so thatthe facing wall will not crack or fail due to movement in the inner-wallwhich may be caused by settlement of the foundation, difference in therates of expansion, or vibration caused by winds or earthquakes.

It is an important feature of the present invention that the anchoringmembers can readily be afilxed to at least one reinforcing rod whichextends within a longitudinal joint along the length of the innermasonry wall, thereby producing simultaneously a reinforced wallconstruction and support between the masonry wall and the facing wall.

In accordance with the above mentioned objects, the invention provides awire which is bent at one end to form a pair of oppositely directedtrasverse legs which are adapted to be embedded within the masonry wall.At the other end, the Wire is provided With-a vertically elongated loop.When the transverse legs are placed in the masonry wall, the rectangularloop lies vertically within the spacing between the masonry and facingwalls. A bracket which may be formed, for example of a length of wirebent in the shape of a rectangle or triangle, is: placed in freelyengaging fashion within the loop so that the bracket may freely movevertically and horizontally with respect to the loop. A portion of thebracket is embedded in a joint of the facing wall, so that theengagement of the anchor and bracket prevent movement of the walls awayfrom each other, but permit relative movement between the walls in theirown planes.

It is also a feature of the present invention to make the height of theloop at least equal to the spacing between the building units, e.g., thebricks, of the facing wall, so that regardless of where the anchor isplaced in the masonry wall, the bracket which is to be embedded in ajoint in the facing wall can engage the loop.

In a further embodiment of this invention the wires extend normally fromreinforcing rods which are disposed along the masonry wall to increasethe strength and rigidity of the masonry wall. As in the embodimentmentioned above, the portion of the anchor extending from the masonrywall is formed into a loop with which the bracket to be imbedded intothe facing wall is freely engaged in a manner to permit free verticalmovement of the bracket within the loop so that the position of thebracket can be adjusted to line up with the joints in the facing wall.

Further objects and features of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing complete detailed descrip tion which should be read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a masonry anchor, according to thisinvention, adapted to be partially embedded in the inner masonry wall;

FIG. Zis a perspective view of one form of a bracket member which fitswithin the loop of the anchor shown in FIG. 1 and which is adapted to beembedded in the facing wall;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of a wall construction showing the mannerin which the anchor and bracket are utilized in anchoring a facing wallto a masonry wall;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmented isometric view of the masonry wall constructionof FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a masonry anchorillustrating features of this invention, showing the portion which ispartially embedded into the masonry wall;

FIG. 7 is another form of a mounting bracket which is to engage theanchor and be partially embedded into the facing wall;

FIG. 8 is a vertical section showing the masonry anchor and bracket ofFIGS. 6 and 7 placed within a wall construction;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken along lines 9--9 of FIG. 8;and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view partly in section and partly broken awayshowing the fastening anchor and bracket of FIGS. 6 and 7 as used in awall construction.

With reference to the drawings, the masonry securing means of thepresent invention is formed from two elements such as those shown inFIGS. 1 and 2. An anchoring section 10 (FIG. 1) which is adapted to bepartially embedded within the inner masonry wall, is formed from arelatively rigid wire which is given a bend 14 at each of its ends toform a pair of opposedly transverse legs 1-6. Intermediate the two endsof wire 12, the wire is given a succession of bends to form asubstantially rectangular loop 18, connected to the legs 16 by a bridgesection 12. The wire 12 is so bent that the plane in which the legs 16is located is perpendicular to the plane which carries the loop 18.

A bracket (FIG. 2) is adapted to have one leg thereof in interlockingengagement with the inner periphery of loop 18 to permit free verticalmovement of bracket 20 within loop 18 but to prevent movement of thebracket 20 away from (toward the left in FIGS. 3 and 4) the anchor 10.In the embodiment of FIG. 2, bracket 20 is substantially rectangular inform and has an opening 22 provided in one of the legs of the bracket bymeans of which bracket 20 may be interengaged with the vertical leg ofloop 18. In FIG. 6 there is shown another possible configuration of abracket which is designated by reference numeral 20'. Bracket 20' is awire bent to have a substantially triangular form and has a slightlyrounded apex which engages the inner periphery of loop 18. An opening 22is formed in one leg of the triangle by means of which bracket 20' isloosely interlocked with loop 18 for free vertical movement along theloop 18.

With reference now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, there is shown a typical masonrywall construction of a type utilizing a masonry anchor such as that ofthe present invention. The wall construction is formed of an innermasonry wall 24 which has spaced in front of it an outer facing wall 26.Masonry wall 24 is constructed of a number of construction units such asconcrete blocks 28 which are joined together at joints 30. Joints 30 arefilled with a suitable bonding material, such as mortar or cement.Similarly, facing wall 26 is constructed of individual building units32, which may be brick or stones. The joints 34 between the bricks orstones 32 are also filled with mortar or other suitable bondingmaterial. As may be seen in FIG. 3, the portion of anchoring section 10which extends rearwardly from loop 18, including the bridge section 12and the transverse legs 16, is embedded in one of the horizontal joints30 between two vertically aligned concrete blocks 28 of masonry wall 24.Loop 18 is therefore disposed within the spacing between masonry wall 24and the outer facing wall 26. It is a feature of this invention to makethe vertical dimension of loop 18 about equal to the vertical dimensionof one building element 32 plus one joint 34 of facing wall 26. In thisway, regardless of the degree to which the horizontal joints 30 and 34are out of horizontal alignment, a portion of the loop 18 will always behorizontally aligned with one of the joints 34 in the facing wall.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, bracket 20 is adapted to be at leastpartially embedded within a horizontal joint 34 of facing wall 26.Before embedding the bracket, it is interlocked with the loop 18 ofanchor 10, which is already secured in the previously erected inner wall24. The level of the bracket 20 is then set to correspond to the levelof joint 34 by merely moving bracket 20 vertically along loop 18 untilthe bracket 20 is horizontally aligned with a joint 34 in the facingwall 26. Bracket 20 can then be readily placed within the joint 34 asshown in FIG. 5 and the mortar or cement bonding material can then beplaced in the joint and the succeeding element 32 can be placed abovethe joint. A horizontal sectional view of the anchoring constructionprovided in this embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 4 showingthe relative disposition of the various parts of the masonry anchorembedded within the inner masonry and the outer facing walls.

FIG. 6 illustrates a second embodiment of a masonry anchor incorporatingthe principles of the present invention in which bridge sections 12',each of which has a loop 18 at one extremity, are fastened by means suchas welding at substantially equally spaced intervals to parallelreinforcing rods 36 of the type generally placed in the joints of aconcrete block wall to increase the rigidity of the wall. Reinforcingrods 36, with the anchoring sections 12 fastened thereto, are embeddedwith in joints 30 and extend continuously along the length of masonrywall 28. It will be appreciated that by placing the reinforcing rods 36,as altered by the present invention, into a concrete block wall in theusual manner, the wall is automatically provided with anchors 18' towhich brackets secured in the facing wall may be secured. Thus, by meansof the present invention, what are at presenttwo separate operations,i.e. reinforcing a masonry wall and providing the wall with anchors, canbe performed simultaneously.

The loop 18 has the same dimensional relationship to the facing units 32as described above in connection with FIGS. 1-5, and each bracket 20'and its respective loop 18' are interlocked as described above inconnection with brackets 20 and loops 18. While the construction shownin FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 shows a bracket such as that illustrated in FIG. 7embedded within the facing wall, it is to be understood that theembodiment of FIG. 6 can be used to equal advantage with the rectangularbracket shown in FIG. 2. The space between the walls 24 and 26 may beempty, except for the anchors and brackets, as shown in FIGS. 3-5, or itmay be filled with mortar or other material, as shown in FIGS. 8-10.

While I have described my invention with reference to several preferredembodiments, it is apparent that modifications may be made to theseembodiments without departing from the scope of this invention, which isdefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use in a wall construction comprising an inner masonry wall andan outer facing wall spaced from and extending parallel to said innermasonry wall, a masonry anchor comprising a wire having a transversesection at one of its ends adapted to be embedded within said masonrywall, said wire also having a loop formed at its other end adapted toextend into the space between said inner and outer walls, the innermostend of said loop being formed by a straight length of said wire, saidlength being considerably longer than the diameter of said wire, and aloop-like wire bracket adapted to be embedded in said outer facing wall,the ends of said loop-like bracket being spaced apart to permit saidbracket to be interengaged with the loop of said anchor, the innermostend of said bracket being formed by a straight length 5 6 of said wire,said length being considerably longer than References Cited the diameterof said Wire, and said anchor and bracket UNITED STATES PATENTS being soformed that their straight lengths are arranged substantiallyperpendicular to each other when said an- 1,794,684 3/1931 Handfal 52713 chor and bracket are embedded in their respective walls, 5 3,292,33612/1966 B1'ynJ 1fS5On at 52713 whereby said interengaged anchor andbracket are per- 33001939 1/1967 Brynlolfsson et 52*713 mitted to shiftin any direction with respect to each FOREIGN P TS other in a planeparallel to said walls.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said 1J8702 2/1920 GreatBntam bracket is in the form or a rectangle having said opening 10 BOBBYGAY Primary Examiner.

formed in one of its sides, and one of its other sides forms saidstraight length, A. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner.

